Needle holder



Feb; 18, 1947'. 4;L.J.'M CORMAC'K 2 415,

NEEDLE HOLDER Filed June 22 1945 INVENTOR Leonard M0 Cormack ATTO NEYS Patented Feb. 18, 1947 NEEDLE HOLDER Leonard J. McCormack, Tearieck, N. J., assignor to The New York Association for the Blind, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application June 22, 1945, Serial No. 600,927

4 Claims.

This invention relates to needle holders which are so constructed that they may be used either to facilitate the insertion and guiding of a needle into and through fabric to be sewed or to assist in drawing the needle and the thread through the stitch openings thus made in the fabric. The needle holder of my invention is adapted particularly to facilitate sewing by blind people and especially to facilitate sewing with curved needles such as are used in sewing neckties, upholstery, etc.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a needle holder into which the needle can be placed easily and quickly and with comparative safety, so far as danger of injury to the needle wielder is concerned, and from which it can as easily and quickly and safely be removed. Needle holders as heretofore constructed have required so much effort to bring the needle into, and even the holders.

The present invention aims to overcome the objections to needle holders heretofore employed, especially those which have been made as parts of thimbles, by so arranging the needle holder that the needle may be brought into proper operative relation to the holder by a mere movement of the holder transverse to the needle, or vice versa, and that it may be removed from the holder by a similar movement in the reverse direction.

Although, as above suggested, one of the objects of the invention is to provide a needle holder which is particularly adapted to facilitate sewing by blind people with curved needles, such as are used insewing neckties, upholstery, etc., the invention is not limited thereto.

Other objects and important features of the invention, to which attention has not been specifically directed hereinabove, will appear hereinafter when the following description and claims are considered in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective View of a thimble having attached thereto a needle holder embodying the present invention therein, a curved needle being shown in position;

Figure 2 is a side elevation;

Figure 3 is a cross-section through the thimble and needle holder on the line 3-3 of Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is a longitudinal section taken on line 4-4 of Figure 3.

In the illustrative embodiment of the invention the finger-engaging part may comprise a thimble 2, which is shown as an ordinary thimble having the usual indented needle-engaging surface, and which has attached to its outer surface the novel needle holding clamp of the present invention. As shown in Figure 1, the needle holding means of the present invention may comprise a spring clip or clamp made of spring steel so bent upon itself as to provide outer and inner clamping jaws 4 and B, the entire clip or clamp being curved somewhat lengthwise of the jaws to conform it approximately to the transverse curva ture of the thimble 2. In order, however, that the holder be adapted to grip and hold a curved needle, that is, a needle that is curved longitudinally, it is important that the inner clamping jaw 6, that is, the one adjacent to the thimble, be so constructed in transverse section that, while holding the needle firmly, it can accommodate itself to the curvature thereof. To this end, as shown in the section in Figure 4, the inner jaw comprises spaced needle-engaging parts 8 and H] which provide a recess between them for receiving the curved part of the needle between the points where the parts 8 and I 0 engage the needle and into this recess projects a spring tongue l2 which is adapted to yield to accommodate itself to needles of various curvatures and at the same time to exert some additional clamping pressure on the convex curve of the needle.

As also shown in both Figures 1 and 2, the outer clampingjaw 4 is preferably also so constructed that it has spaced needle-engaging parts I4 and I6 providing a recess into which'projects a spring tongue 18, thus permitting use of the needle holder on either hand with the thimble s0 placed that the needle holder is operative to receive the convex part of the needle in the recess between the parts 8 and [0 in one case and between the parts l4 and iii in the other case.

To facilitate the moving of the needle holder into holding relation to the needle by a movement of the holder transverse to the-needle, the outer jaw 4 is preferably outwardly flared at the open end of the clamp or clip so that the clamp may be easily slipped over the needle. If desired, the clamping jaws may be curved in transverse section where the needle holder is intended primarily for use with curved needles. In this case the jaws would preferably be so curved that the curves of the two jaws extend away from each other at their middles.

To provide for movement of the spring tongue l2 of the inner jaw 6 to accommodate itself to 3 the convex curvature of the needle, the clamp as a whole is so mounted upon the thimble 2 that this inner jaw 6 is slightly spaced from the surface of the thimble to permit movement of the tongue I2 toward and away from the thimble. As shown, the clamp or clip is so placed on the thimble that, when the needle is inserted therein, the longitudinal axis of the needle will be held substantially in a plane which includes the longitudinal axis of the thimble. In other words, the jaws 4 and 6 of the clamp extend transversely to the axis of the thimble 2 and the movement of these jaws toward and away from each other is in a direction which is transverse to the axis. of the thimble. This permits the movement of the clamp or needle holder into engagement with the needle in such a manner that there is practically no danger of the blind person pricking himself or herself on the needle during this needle-engaging movement.

Any suitable means may be provided for securing the needle holder to the thimble in this position and also in such manner that the tongue l2 of the inner jaw 6 may accommodate itself to needles of varying convex curvature. As shown in the drawing, the free end of the inner jaw 5 may be extended and bent down from the opening between the jaws and secured to the thimble to form a part of the support and any suitable means may be provided for securing the other end of the clamp to the thimble. If, for example, the clamp be curved toward the thimble at its closed end, that is, at the end where the two jaws are united, this downwardly curved end could be attached directly to the thimble or there might be attached to this downwardly curved end an extension 20, soldered, welded, riveted or otherwisesecured to the thimble.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the needle holder of the present invention is adapted to engage and grip a needle of almost any shape either for the purpose of facilitating theinsertion and the guiding of the needle into and through the material to be sewed or for the purpose of assisting in drawing the needle and the thread through the stitch openings that have been made by the insertion of the needle into the material. In the one case the clamp would engage the needle near the eye thereof and in the other case the clampwould engage the needle near the projecting point thereof.

I claim:

1. A needle holder comprising a finger-engaging part carrying upon its outer surface a spring clamp adapted resiliently to engage a needle inserted thereunder by a movement crosswise of the finger-engaging part, said clamp being arranged 4 to hold the needle substantially in a plane through the longitudinal axis of the finger-engaging part, in which the spring clamp has one of its jaws shaped in section for spaced two-point engagement with the needle whereby it is adapted to hold a curved needle.

2. A needle holder comprising a finger-engaging part carrying upon its outer surface a spring clamp adapted resilientlyto engage a needle inserted thereunder by a movement crosswise of the finger-engaging part, said clamp being arranged to hold the needle substantially in a plane through the longitudinal axis of the finger-engaging part, in which the jaw of the spring clamp which is adjacent to the finger-engaging part is shaped for spaced two-point engagement with the needle whereby a curved needle may be held by said clamp with its ends extending away from said finger part.

3. A needle holder comprising a finger-engaging part carrying upon its outer surface a spring clamp adapted resiliently to engage a needle inserted thereunder by a movement crosswise of the finger-engaging part, said clamp being arranged to hold the needle substantially in a plane through the longitudinal axis of the finger-engaging part, in which the spring clamp has one of its jaws so shaped in section that between spaced needle-engaging parts thereof is a recess adapted to receive the convexly curved portion of a curved needle engaged thereby.

4. A needle holder comprising a finger-engaging part carrying upon its outer surface a spring clamp adapted resiliently to engage a needle inserted thereunder by a movement crosswise of the finger-engaging part, said clamp being arranged to hold the needle substantially in a plane through the longitudinal axis of the fingerengaging part, in which the spring clamp has one of itsjaws so shaped in section that between spaced needle-engaging parts thereof is a recess adapted to receive the convexly curved portion of a curved needle engaged thereby, said jaw having a spring tongue extending into said recess and providing a yielding intermediate needleengaging part of said jaw.

LEONARD J. MCCORMACK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,473,953 Dart Nov. 13, 1923 453,393 Shatsick June 2, 1891 

